More FO photos, updates and a Blog Contest

Here is a picture of the socks that were finished on Wednesday, in use that same day. They just fit so the next pair will need to be even bigger!

This is the Lavold Sweater, not the best photo of it but it will do for now. If I can get to it I’ll dig out Molly the Manequin from the barn and have her pose with it . . .

Its been a busy few days around here with some knitting getting done but not as much as I’d like. I am basically done with the baby sweater. It just needs to be sewn up. And since I finally got to the fabric store I have buttons for the older niece’s sweater so we’ll hopefully have both of those finised and photos taken soon.

I must confess, Yesterday, I bought yarn. I bought yarn for the baby gift I’m working on for the step-niece’s June baby and I’ve decided on a log cabin style blanket. Its done in squares so I’m going to start it sooner than April and do a square here and there as the startitis hits. Hopefully, that will both keep me from starting extra things for now and get the blanket done sooner.

I also realized yesterday that we have another friend who is expecting the end of next month. They are really friends through the baby’s Godfather, but someone we see from time to time and I want to knit something for their new little one. I haven’t decided what that will be, perhaps a blanket, perhaps just a sweater . . . not sure yet but I’ll have to decide soon and get started. Perhaps the stash and I need to spend some time together for me to figure that one out.

Last night I made the startling discovery that the last remaining undamaged socks need to be darned. All the heels of my socks have worn thin recently and it seems all at the same time. One pair is the Encore pair that I knit on our trip in October so I haven’t even worn them very much. And I’ve been washing everything by hand and line drying/blocking them so they aren’t seeing any hard washing time either. Some of these socks existed around here for years before showing any wear at all and now all of a sudden its an issue. After careful consideration I believe the culprit to be out rugs. Shortly before we had the baby we got area rugs for both the living room and his bed room. And since they were going to see hard use with a child we didn’t exactly go for good, high-end wool rugs either. These are relatively inexpensive nylon carpet. And since I wear my hand-knit socks constantly without covering in the house I’m guessing that the nylon rug is taking a toll on my socks. Guess I’ll have to start wearing my slippers more often . . . and I’ve got a lot of socks to darn. Does darning socks count as a UFO? Or just Mending pile?

There is a reason my knitting calendar is written out on a dry-erase board for the next few months worth. My mom came for a visit earlier this week and while we were talking about my projects (she’s a quilter so she “gets it”) we realized that since she and my step-father are planning to move to Northern Maine before the end of this year, the shawl that I’ve been spinning yarn for is probably not going to be her most immediate need.

We’ve been planning for a pretty lacy number done with an ocean theme both in stitch and color. It will be nice for getting dressed up to go somewhere but not the warmest thing. She mentioned that for more immediate use she would much rather have something a little thicker and warmer. We looked through a few things and decided on the Praire Shawl from Folk Shawls. She’s going to wear it more as an everyday type shawl so something relatively simple was what she wanted and that fit the bill. And since I had told her about my not buying yarn this year she has asked that I may every effort possible to knit it from the stash, provided I have a weight that fits the bill and we can find the right color. So the lace shawl has likely been postponed to a 2008 project and we are going to do the praire shawl instead.

Which leads me to this:

That photo above is a picture of the Lace yarn I plied today for Mom’s Lace Shawl.

Since I’ve been working on the yarn for a long time now I’ve decided to finish spinning it even though I won’t likely use it this year. That way we can move on to other spinning projects without leaving this one as a UFO.

I’d actually forgotten how magical plying can be. Watching the way the colors form and change in the yarn as the singles are plied together. It can be really interesting, though sometimes the interest level can wear thin when it takes a long time to get the yarn plied as it did with this.

While I was working on it I had an idea. . . .

Blog Contest

This is a very simple contest. All you have to do to enter is take a guess at how many yards of yarn are on the bobbin in the photo above. Rather like guessing how many jelly beans were in the jar in school. To keep it simple, here are the rules.

1. To enter, leave a comment in my comments area from this post with your guess as to yardage and a way for me to contact you. One entry per person please.
2. Each number may only be used once, like on “Price is Right”, so guess early to have the biggest selection. If someone else has guess that number please choose a different number.
3. Closest guess, in whole numbers only, without going over the yardage will be our winner.
4. If I am unable to contact the winner within a resonable amount of time (like a week) then the next closet guess will be contacted . . .

Ready for the prize?

The winner will receive their chose between the following: Either 1 oz of Cashmere spinning fiber or 60 yds of handspun, lace-weight Alpaca. Both are shown in the photo below, Cashmere on the left, Alpaca yarn on the right.

Entries will be accepted through Thursday night and I’ll announce the winner on Friday.
Okay, off to knit.